This week, U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced that during the week of Feb. 24, the House will consider a bill that would address premium increases in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The premium increases are the result of two Biggert-Waters provisions (Sections 205 and 207).

Biggert-Waters was a critical piece of legislation that provided for long-term stability of the NFIP. Unfortunately, some significant problems are associated with the implementation of the risk-based pricing provisions of the law. For the last several months, the Big “I” has advocated that Congress make minor modifications to both Section 205 (bought/sold) and Section 207 of the legislation, in order to ensure that the law works for both individual policyholders and the U.S. economy at large while still protecting the efficacy of Biggert-Waters.

Two weeks ago, the Senate overwhelmingly passed S. 1926, the "Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act," which would delay implementation of Sections 205 and 207 for four years. Majority Leader Cantor said this week that the House will consider a "modified version" of the Senate-passed bill, adding that “the Senate bill irresponsibly removes much-needed reforms and imposes additional costs on taxpayers.” The Big "I" thanks Leader Cantor for scheduling a vote and strongly supports House consideration of flood insurance reform in order to protect homeowners from what Leader Cantor calls "unreasonable and unrealistic premium increases."

Congressional leaders and interested members of Congress are still in the process of developing the details of exactly what the modified legislation will entail. As these discussions continue, the Big "I" strongly recommends that any such reform be both comprehensive and reasonable.

The Big "I" will continue to advocate for meaningful reform of Biggert-Waters in order to protect both the NFIP and the millions of consumers that rely upon it for protection.